NYT: Erasing Tattoos, Out of Regret or Simply to Get a Fresh Canvas

New York Times
June 17, 2007

Erasing Tattoos, Out of Regret or Simply to Get a Fresh Canvas

By NATASHA SINGER


PHOTO:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...7tat_1_600.jpg
Caption: Axel Koester for The New York Times
Kristen Lindberg has a tattoo removed at a Dr. Tattoff salon in
Beverly Hills. Treatments can be costly and uncomfortable.
SLIDE SHOW: http://tinyurl.com/337pjp


BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Kelly Brannigan was suffering from a case of
tattoo remorse.

Just a year ago, Ms. Brannigan, 24, who holds up Case No. 24 as one of
the models on the NBC game show "Deal or No Deal," had been full of
hope when she and her fiancé had each other's names tattooed across
their inner wrists.

But now, when she looks at the letters -- P-A-T-R-I-C-K -- she is
reminded of the failed relationship.

For help, she turned to Dr. Tattoff, a chain of tattoo removal stores
where nurses use lasers in a series of treatments to break down tattoo
pigments. Dr. Tattoff is part of a growing industry catering to people
who may not have thought about the implications of "forever" the first
time around.

Removing tattoos is costly, uncomfortable and time-consuming, but the
affinity for body art is so strong that some people say they do it to
clear space to tattoo all over again.

Many dermatologists specialize in laser tattoo removal, and some laser
hair-removal centers are adding services. In California, there are
removal centers like Dr. Tattoff, Tat2BeGone and Tattoo MD.

Most of Dr. Tattoff's clients are women ages 25 to 35, said James
Morel, the chief executive of the company, which has given more than
13,000 tattoo laser treatments since opening here in 2004. "Maybe
women are getting more tattoos than they used to," Mr. Morel said, "or
maybe they just have a higher level of tattoo regret than men."

On the horizon is a development that could change the very nature of
tattooing: a type of ink encapsulated in beads and designed to break
up after one treatment with a special laser.

The technology for the ink, called Freedom-2, was developed by
scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brown and Duke
Universities. It is to go on sale this fall.

"We think the fence-sitters who always wanted a tattoo but have been
afraid of the permanence will jump in and get tattoos," said Martin
Schmieg, the chief executive of Freedom-2. "But as your life changes
from young to middle-aged to older, from single to married to
divorced, you get tattoo regret, so we think the tattoo removal market
will increase as well."

There are no hard statistics on tattoo removal, but Catherine A.
Kniker, a senior vice president for Candela, a laser manufacturer,
calculated that Americans may have 100,000 laser tattoo removal
treatments this year.

Tattoos have been used for centuries to reflect changes in life
status, whether passage into adulthood or induction into a group like
the military or a gang. In recent years, tattoos have also become a
fashion accessory, a trend fueled by basketball players, bands and
celebrities.

A report by the Food and Drug Administration estimated that as many as
45 million Americans have tattoos. The report based the number on the
finding by a Harris Interactive Poll in 2003 that 16 percent of all
adults and 36 percent of people 25 to 29 had at least one tattoo. The
poll also found that 17 percent of tattooed Americans regretted it.

A tattoo that cost several hundred dollars could require several
thousand dollars and many laser sessions to remove. Dr. Tattoff
charges $39 per square inch of tattoo for each treatment.

Devices called Q-switched lasers are used to shatter tattoo pigment
into particles that are cleared by the body's lymphatic system. Full
removal takes an average of eight treatments, spaced at least a month
apart, using different Q-switched lasers for different-colored inks,
said Dr. Suzanne Kilmer, a dermatologist and laser researcher in
Sacramento.

Each treatment incrementally fades the tattoo. Some patients are left
with pristine skin, others with a shadow or white spots, Dr. Kilmer
said.

Many states allow nurses to perform laser treatments. But Dr. Kilmer
said patients would be better off going to experienced dermatologists
who owned a variety of lasers and were trained to treat possible
complications like allergic reactions.

Some researchers are trying to determine whether tattoo removal
treatments affect the lymph nodes. Researchers in Europe reported that
lasers used on certain pigments had created toxic or carcinogenic
byproducts.

"You would be concerned about where the pigment goes, how long it is
there and at what concentrations," said Paul C. Howard, director of
the Center for Phototoxicology at the National Toxicology Program of
the Food and Drug Administration, which is also researching pigments.

Still, last month, Dage Decuir, a comptroller at a construction
company, was at Dr. Tattoff continuing treatments to remove a cat from
her chest and a pig from her arm, which would otherwise distract from
her strapless wedding gown.

Roger Rodriguez, himself a tattoo artist, was having an amateur tattoo
removed. The tattoo -- his mother's name, Margarita, in wobbly
calligraphy that had been partly covered with a sprawling tattoo of
his last name -- had been done when he was 12.

"The back is good real estate," Mr. Rodriguez said. "We are bulldozing
everything so I can have a blank canvas again."

Recently, Dr. Eric F. Bernstein, a dermatologist and laser researcher
in Bryn Mawr, Pa., was treating David Donch, of Collingswood, N.J.

Mr. Donch, a substitute teacher, wanted to erase black-and-white
scenes of suffering souls and multicolored stained-glass windows that
enveloped his lower right leg -- a task that could take as many as 30
treatments, Dr. Bernstein said.

Mr. Donch said the treatments felt like rubber bands being snapped
against his skin but that it was worth it. "As I am getting older and
planning to start a family and get my teaching certificate, I am more
aware that appearances are important," Mr. Donch said.

Ms. Brannigan of "Deal or No Deal" said she was happy to see the name
of her former fiancé fading from her wrist. She said she had learned
an important lesson: "I'm not going to get a tattoo of another guy's
name until I get married."


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/us/17tattoo.html

google.2.zol...@spamgourmet offered:

> New York Times
> June 17, 2007
>
> Erasing Tattoos, Out of Regret or
> Simply to Get a Fresh Canvas
>
> By NATASHA SINGER
[...]

> BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Kelly Brannigan
> was suffering from a case of tattoo remorse.
>
> Just a year ago, Ms. Brannigan, 24, who

I wonder how long she had been engaged.

> holds up Case No. 24 as one of the
> models on the NBC game show "Deal
> or No Deal," had been full of hope when
> she and her fiancé had each other's
> names tattooed across their inner
> wrists.
>
> But now, when she looks at the letters
> -- P-A-T-R-I-C-K -- she is reminded
> of the failed relationship.
>
> For help, she turned to Dr. Tattoff, a
> chain of tattoo removal stores where
> nurses use lasers in a series of
> treatments to break down tattoo
> pigments.
[...]

> Removing tattoos is costly, uncomfortable
> and time-consuming, but
[...]

> Ms. Brannigan <snip> said she was
> happy to see the name of her former
> fiancé fading from her wrist. She said
> she had learned an important lesson:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I'm not quite certain of that.

> "I'm not going to get a tattoo of
> another guy's name until I get
> married."

Brannigan might want to take a look at divorce statistics:

http://www.divorcemag.com/statistics/statsUS.shtml

If she doesn't she unfortunately may just be returning to Dr.
Tattoff's for more of that costly, uncomfortable and time-consuming
removal when she discovers herself suffering from a case of marriage
remorse.

> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/us/17tattoo.html

--
Curt